Elliptic Curve (EC) cryptography over a finite field require arithmetic operations of addition, multiplication, squaring and inversion. Additionally, subtraction operations are also required if the field is not of characteristic two. Modular arithmetic operations are also required, for example in computing signatures, however these operations are required less frequently than the finite field operations. EC cryptography as an example, requires the full complement of modular operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication and inversion.
Field sizes for cryptography tend to be relatively large, requiring fast, dedicated processors to perform the arithmetic operations in an acceptable time. Thus there have been numerous implementations of either fast modular arithmetic processor or dedicated processors for performing arithmetic operations in F.sub.2.sup.m.
Traditionally RSA was the encryption system of choice, however with the advent of superior and more secure EC cryptography the need for processors that perform modular exponentiation exclusively is becoming less imperative. Thus while users are in transition from RSA cryptography to EC cryptography there is a need for an arithmetic processor that supports both these operations, with little or no penalty in performance.